A wonderful set from this mighty ensemble – a record that opens up immediately in a range of complex colors and tones, yet all with a quality that still manages to swing throughout! That balance is part of the real strengths of pianist/arranger David Matthews at this point in his career – able to draw on a few decades' worth of innovation in big band material, yet all without hitting you over the head with it – almost a return to the more organic shifts of sounds you'd get in a 50s arranger like Ralph Burns. The players are all great – and include Randy Brecker and Byron Stripling on trumpet, George Young and Chris Hunter on saxes, and Danny Gottlieb on drums – and titles include "Doxy", "Spanish Blue", "Sir Duke", "One Black Orchid", and a great take on Duke Jordan's "No Problem". CD

Understated genius from McCoy Tyner – and exactly the sort of record that shows why his catalog is always worth searching out! The album's got a lot more subtlety than his immediate post-Coltrane sides of the 70s – righteousness maybe a bit more on the backburner, but not so much so that the album loses its soul – because even though the title's maybe a bit uptown, the execution's a lot more down to earth – filled with warm changes and sharply personal moments, played by a group that includes Dewey Redman on tenor, Antonio Hart on alto, Christian McBride on bass, and Marvin Smitty Smith on drums. Titles include "Contemplation", "For All We Know", "I Will Wait For You", "Smile", "Soul Eyes", "Piano Sonata No 8 In C Minor", and "Prelude In E Minor". CD

Trumpeter Ted Daniel takes on the music of jazz founder King Oliver – but as you'd expect from all of Daniel's other groundbreaking work, the result here is something quite unique! True, the tunes are older numbers from the Oliver songbook of the 20s – but the approach is maybe a bit more freewheeling and pan-historic – a bit like the mode you'd expect if this project was handled by some of the artists on the Black Saint/Soul Note label in the early 80s. As with their work, the immediate approach is historically respectful, but the individual currents in the music really update the sound – thanks to a lineup that includes Daniel on cornet, Charlie Burnham on violin, Newman Baker on percussion, Joe Daley on tuba, and Marvin Sewell on guitar. Titles include "Tears", "Working Man's Blues", "Riverside Blues", "Mabel's Dream", "Just Gone", and "Zulu's Ball" – most taken in much longer readings than recordings from the 78rpm generation. CD

One of the greatest releases ever from the Okka Disk label – a legendary set that stands as a great testament to the global improvising scene that exploded in Chicago during the 90s! Back in the early years of FMP, nobody would have thought to use the name "Peter Brotzmann" and "Chicago" in the same context – but by the time of these recordings, the legendary reedman had been spending quite a bit of time in the Windy City – working strongly alongside that decade's fresh generation of improvisers, at a level that also helped Brotzmann discover new energy in his music too! The lineup here is great – both octet and tentet groups that operate in an improvising orchestra tradition – with players that include Ken Vandermark on tenor and bass clarinet, Mars Williams on tenor and alto, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Mats Gustafsson on baritone and fluteophone, Joe McPhee on pocket cornet and valve trombone, Fred Lonberg Holm on cello, Kent Kessler on bass, Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake on drums and percussion, and Brotzmann himself on tenor, clarinet, and tarogato. The set features three different live recordings, and one long studio set recorded over two days – a fantastic collection of music. Titles include "Burning Spirit (For Kazuka Shiraishi)", "Other Brothers", "Old Bottles No Wine, "Aziz", "Foolish Infinity", "Immediate Music", "Makapoor", "Foolish Infinity", "Other Brothers" and "Divide By Zero". CD